From Sidekicks to Spies
by WTF is going on here
Summary: After the scene in the Hall of Justice (Season 1, Independence Day) both Speedy AND Robin decide to leave the League behind. Instead of being total independent heroes, they decide to accept a job offer they were given. An offer given by a man with an eye patch, and a black coat.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in the following story. All characters, and some of the places, are property of DC Comics and Marvel. I'm not doing this for money or anything, just for fun.

"So that's it?" Speedy angrily asked. He, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Batgirl, and Robin were in the Hall of Justice with their mentors, supposedly to join the Justice League. Instead, all they been given was access to some of the private rooms in the Hall.

"Roy, you just need to be patient." Green Arrow said, trying to calm him down.

Speedy retorted, "What I need is respect." He turned to the other young partners. "They're treating us like kids. Worse, like sidekicks!" When the other sidekicks didn't say anything, he continued, "You're kidding, right?! You're playing their game?! Why?! Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be the day, step one in becoming full-fledged members of the League."

Kid Flash replied, "Well, sure, but I thought step one was the tour of the HQ."

Speedy then told them, "Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ. I bet they never told you it's just a false front for tourists and a pit stop for catching zeta-beam teleporter-tubes to the real thing, an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

Batman gave Green Arrow a look. Green Arrow tried to defend his decision, saying, "I know, I know, but I thought we could make an exception." Batman continued to glare at him. "Or not."

Aquaman tried to settle the situation, telling Speedy, "You're not helping your cause here, son. Stand down or..."

Speedy interrupted him. "Or what? You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son!" He looked at Green Arrow. "I'm not even his." Looking at everyone else, he added. "I thought I was his partner, but not anymore."

Robin stood up. "Speedy's right. You guys have been lying to us, so why should we stay with you? You obviously don't trust us, like real partners would."

Speedy and Robin waited a moment, wanting to see if the rest of their friends were going to join them. When they didn't, both young heroes stormed out. The last thing they heard was Superman calling about a fire at CADMUS.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$(About Two Hours Later)$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Both Speedy and Robin were at an old, abandoned factory at the edge of D.C. Both of them were very excited. They were about to accept a very important job offer that they had both been given several days ago. After the scene at the Hall, they had talked it over, and decided that if the League was going to keep treating them like mindless children, they were going to cut all ties with them. They were going to go to the one place they knew they would be given the respect they both felt they deserved.

Inside the factory, they saw an older black man sitting at a steel table, looking at something on an Ipad. The man was tall, dressed entirely in black, and had an eye patch. When he looked up from the tablet, he gave them a small smile.

Standing up, the man got right to business. "So, do you two have an answer for me?"

Speedy and Robin both nodded. "We do." Speedy answered.

"And….?"

"We both accept."

The man's smile grew wider. " Congratulations. Welcome to SHIELD."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, or brands mentioned in this story. This story is for entertainment only, not for profit.

Speedy, Robin, and Director Fury were all in the back of a SHEILD car, heading to their ride to SHEILD HQ. Fury was talking to them, trying to be nice so that they would start trusting him. He honestly did want them to work for SHEILD, but he knew that if he could get their trust now, they would be more likely to do anything he said in the future.

"So Speedy," Fury started.

"Roy." He corrected. "My real name is Roy."

"I'm Richard." Robin added.

"Why are you two telling me your real names?" Fury asked, surprised. "Don't have to protect your secret identities?"

"No, because we aren't super heroes anymore. We left the League, and their stupid rules." Roy answered.

"Besides," Richard added, you're our boss now, so wouldn't you need to know our names?"

"Good point." Fury conceded. "So, Roy, how long have you been doing archery?"

"Twelve years. I started when I was six." He answered. "Hey, a-are there other people…?"

"Other archers, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, one of my field agents, Clint Barton."

"Wait, do you mean…."

"Yeah, _that_ Clint Barton. I could introduce you, if you want."

"That would be awesome!"

Fury noticed that Robin-Richard-had what looked like a holographic computer which came from his glove. Multiple feeds were on the screen, showing code, and what looked like the views from security cameras. He wondered how the kid could've done all that hacking, _that_ fast.

"Did you do all that just now?" Fury asked him. He gave the screen a closer look. "Is that the White House?"

"Yeah, I it was easy. Once I hacked the Pentagon in less than ten minutes!" Richard exclaimed.

"Remind me to introduce you to Tony Stark, once we get to base." Fury chuckled. He glanced out the window. "Here's our ride guys. We're going to take the quinjet to base. It's out in the ocean."

The ride was quick and uneventful. The only thing that happened was Fury trying to talk to them, hoping he was making a good impression. Both Roy and Richard seemed to like him though, so he figured he was doing a good enough job.

Stepping out of the quinjet, Fury announced, "Welcome to the Heilcarrier. SHEILD HQ."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, places, or brands mentioned in this story. This story is for entertainment only, not for profit.

Both of them looked around in surprise and curiosity. It looked like the deck of an ordinary military ship, but they figured it wasn't, given what Fury had told them. Just then, an announcement came over the speakers.

_All hands, please secure the flight deck. All hands, please secure the flight deck. We are ready to launch._

Several people were hurrying around the deck, securing the jets stored there.

"Is this a submarine?" Robin/Richard asked Fury in surprise.

Fury chuckled. "No, it's not a sub. Follow me, I'll show what everyone's getting ready for."

Both young heroes follow Fury as he went to the edge of the deck. Pointing at something in the water, Fury told them, "**That's** what they're preparing for."

Out of the water rose what looked like an enormous fan. Judging by the way the whole ship was rising, there were engines like this one were on all four corners of the helicarrier. They were both amazed. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this before.

Fury watched their reactions, noting the looks of surprise and amazement. After letting them watch for a few seconds, he told them, "C'mon guys, let's get inside. You both should get settled in, and I want you both to be assessed as soon as possible."

"Assessed?" Speedy/Roy asked. "What do you mean, 'assessed'?"

"I mean, I want to have you both tested. To see what exactly you two can do." Fury explained. "That way, I know what kinds of missions to send you on."

"**Real** missions?"

"Of course. I wouldn't send you guys on simple, pointless, missions. That'd be a **huge** waste of your skills." Fury reassured them.

The trio headed inside, to Fury's office. Once inside, Fury made a quick phone call. About ten minutes later two people came in. The first one was a man. He was average height, with dark blonde hair, and grey-green eyes. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties, and was fairly muscular. The person behind him was a woman. She had curly, fiery red hair, and green eyes. She was slightly shorter than the man, and looked a little younger than him as well. She was also in good shape, shown by her strong, toned build.

Fury turned to the two young heroes. "These are the people who will be assessing you." He told them.

He gestured to the blonde man. "This is Agent Clint Barton, and he'll be assessing you, Roy."

Roy and Agent Barton shook hands, Roy trying not to fanboy over the fact that he was actually meeting **the **Clint Barton. He was considered to be the world greatest marksman! This day was turning out better than he had hoped.

Gesturing to the woman, he added, "This is Agent Natasha Romanoff. She's going to be assessing your combat skills Richard."

Agent Romanoff and Richard also shook hands. Richard turned to Fury and asked, "Who's assessing my tech skills then?"

"Tony Stark will. He's coming up here tomorrow afternoon."

"Awesome!"

Turning to Barton and Romanoff, he told them, "I want you guys to give them a full assessment. See just what these two can do. Be as thorough as possible. Got it?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Of course."

_(Natasha and Richard)_

Richard and Natasha walked to the gym, with Richard asking questions the entire time.

"So, what do you do here?" Richard asked.

"Do you mean SHEILD in general?" Natasha questioned. "Or me specifically?"

"You, specifically."

"I'm a field agent. This means I go into the field, and do missions. I'm considered one of the best, so I always get the **really** hard missions."

"What kind of missions?"

"Lots of different kinds. Sometimes I'm stealing information; sometimes I spy on criminal organizations, in order to find out how dangerous they are, or to identify as members as possible, so that they can be arrested; sometimes I act as a bodyguard for important people; and I also assassinate people."

"Wait, you actually kill people?" Richard asked in surprise.

"Not all the time." She reassured him. "I rarely have to kill people, and the only people I ever kill are the **really** horrible people. The ones who commit horrible crimes, but are too dangerous to lock up, because they could breakout of wherever their being held, and cause more damage. Or kill more innocent people. Like terrorists."

"And the Joker?"

"Right. I only kill people who are **that** bad."

"Oh, okay. That doesn't sound so bad." Another question occurred to him. "Do you have a field name?"

"Yes. It's Black Widow."

"Can I change my field name? I don't want to be Robin anymore."

"Of course. You can also change your uniform too, if you want."

As they walked into the gym, Natasha asked him, "So what kinds of fighting do you know?"

"Escrima, and Judo."

Natasha nodded. "Step on the mats then. Let's see just how good you are."

_(Clint and Roy)_

Clint and Roy were going to the shooting range, for Roy's shooting assessment. Unlike with Natasha and Richard, Clint was asking the most questions.

"So, Roy, how long have you been doing archery?"

"Twelve years. I started when I was six."

"Holy shit! Are you serious?"

Roy nodded.

"Damn, you started even younger than me. I started when I was nine."

Roy looked surprised at that. "Really? That was how hold Richard was, when Bats started training him."

"For real? Wow, no wonder he can kick ass. Anyway, here's the range."

They walked into the range, which was set up with stations for different weapons.

"Here's my station. It's already set up, so you can just start shooting. We'll start off with stationary targets first, to see what your range is. We'll do moving targets next."

As Roy got into position, Clint added, "And for God's sake, don't use any explosive arrows! Fury'll skin us alive if you do!"

_(Time Skip: 3 and a half hours later.)_

Fury sat at his desk, listening to Natasha's report of Richard's combat skills. So far he was impressed with what he heard.

"He's even better than I thought. When we sparred, Richard actually knocked me down seven times, and even knocked me out five of those times. He's creative in his fighting, and incredibly agile. This, combined with the flexibility from his years of gymnastics, and his speed, makes it difficult—nearly impossible—for him to be caught. He's also unafraid to fight dirty, which could also throw an opponent off in a fight. "

"So, what level missions should he be given?" Fury asked, even more interested in the teen. Deciding to recruit him was looking like a better idea by the second.

"Level five, at least. Possibly even some of the lower level sixes."

"Quick question." Richard interrupted. "How many levels are there?"

"Six." Natasha answered. "One is the easiest, which are 'missions' like delivering important documents from one base to another. Six is the hardest. Missions like that are things like assassinating terrorist leaders."

"What about Roy, Barton?" Fury asked, as Natasha and Richard kept talking about mission levels, and other bits of SHIELD protocol. "What do you think about him?"

"He's unbelievably good for his age." Clint started. "He hit moving targets that were a quarter of a mile away. I couldn't even do that when I was his age. With a bit more practice, he could easily be as good of a shot as me. He's also a good fighter. He knocked me on my ass about eight or nine times when we sparred."

"Mission levels?"

"Five to mid-six."

Fury was impressed with Roy as well. From the sound of it, both of these ex-sidekicks would be spectacular agents. The only other recruits he'd seen with so much potential were Barton and Romanoff.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Romanoff?"

"I want permission to train Richard. Teach him how SHIELD works, give him more combat training. That sort of thing."

That didn't sound like a bad idea at all. Sure, he was great now, but he would no doubt get even better with Romanoff's training. And Richard would need someone to show him the ropes. If Romanoff wanted to do that too, it'd save him the trouble of finding someone to show him around.

"As long as Richard's okay with it."

"I am!"

Fury shrugged. "Then yeah, you've got my permission. He's completely under your supervision. That includes deciding when he start going on missions."

"Thank you, sir. " Natasha turned back to Richard. "C'mon, I'll give you the tour. After that, we'll start with the training. How do you feel about learning how to knife fight?"

Natasha and Richard left the office, already planning their training time.

Barton turned to Fury. Before he could say anything however, Fury said, "Let me guess, you want to train Roy, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Roy, do you want him to train you?"

"Hell yes!"

Fury laughed at his enthusiasm. "Fine then. Barton, he's all yours. Training, missions, the whole nine yards."

"Thanks!"

Clint and Roy quickly left his office, also already planning Roy's training. Fury watched them go, pleased that this was working out so well. Both Roy and Richard were genuinely excited to be working here, and under Barton and Romanoff's training, they would definitely become great agents. He wasn't even that worried about the fact that they might eventually be trained to do assassinations.

He knew from a previous conversation with Roy that the young man understood that it was necessary sometimes. He wouldn't be a problem. And judging by Richard and Natasha's earlier conversation, Richard got it too. No, he wouldn't a problem either, Fury decided. This was going to be fine.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story. The Justice League, Young Justice team, and certain places I mention (Gotham, Star City, Metropolis) all belong to DC Comics. SHIELD and the Avengers belong to Marvel Comics. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This chapter might not be what you were expecting, but it'll become important later. It's starting them getting to know each other a little, and building trust. Like I said, it'll be important later!

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

_(Natasha and Richard) _

"….And here we are, back at the gym." Natasha told her new charge.

"Great. Um, I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but can we get back to training now?" Richard asked, barely containing his excitement.

Natasha smiled at his enthusiasm. "Sure." She went to one of the weapon lockers, and got out two knives. "We're going to start with kali, a type of martial arts that uses knives."

"Okay, sounds interesting."

She gave him one of the knives, warning him, "Be careful, these things are even sharper than they look."

She demonstrated the correct grip. "This is how you hold the knife, for the start of the fight."

Richard carefully copied her grip, trying not to drop the knife. He was also careful not to hold the knife to hard, in order to avoid hand cramps. That would just make this even more difficult.

Natasha and Richard continued to work on kali for several hours. Since Richard had always been a fast learner, and since he was used to fast paced training sessions anyway, Natasha soon declared that he was already at mid-level proficiency. After they put the knives away, Natasha noticed that it was afternoon.

"Hey, Richard. It's already four-thirty. Do you want to stop for a late lunch?" She could've kept going longer, but she didn't think that it would be right to make Richard skip a meal. He was a growing teen, and he needed fuel; otherwise he'd wouldn't be able to keep up in training.

"Sure, I'm pretty hungry."

"Well, come on then." She laughed. "Let's go!"

As they walked to the cafeteria, Richard kept up another steady stream of questions.

"Will I learn how to use a gun?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Can I learn how to fly one of those planes on deck?"

"I don't see why not."

"I don't need to learn any foreign languages do I? I already know a lot, so I won't have to learn anymore, right?"

"Mmm…depends. How many languages do you know now?"

"Romani-that's my first language, I'm original from Romania-, Romanian, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Czech, Russian, and Portuguese."

"Wow, that's a pretty impressive number of languages for you to know already. I'd say you're pretty set for now, so no. You won't be learning anymore."

"Okay. So what kind of spy stuff are you gonna teach me?"

"Things like interrogations. How to trick the enemy into giving you the information you want. How to trick them into doing whatever you want them to do."

"Can you do that? Make someone do whatever you want?"

"Yes, I've actually made some of my enemies employees give up everything they now about their boss, **willingly**."

"Really?" Richard asked in slight awe.

"Yes, really. Not only did they turn over all the information they could on their boss, I was able to convince them to help me arrest their boss, **and** turn themselves in afterwards."

"Wow, that sounds amazing! I want to learn how to do that!"

Natasha chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how." Glancing up, she added, "Here's the cafeteria."

"Great, I'm starved."

Both of them grabbed a tray, and got in line for food. Looking at all the different kinds of food set out, Richard asked, "Sooo, what? Do we just grab our own food?"

"Yeah, pretty much. If you see something you like, grab some of it. If you don't want any, skip it."

Richard shrugged. "Okay." He took a BLT sandwich, grapes, iced tea, and flavored water. Natasha decided on a ham and cheese wrap, celery, lemonade, and plain water. She gestured for Richard to follow her to one of the nearby tables. Natasha decided to talk about his training schedule now, as well as his living arrangements. She figured if they got everything planned out now, there'd be less confusion later.

"How do you feel about learning how to use a gun?"

The former Boy Wonder thought about it for a minute. "I'm willing to learn how. Are we going to do that today?"

"We'll just cover the basics today. We might not have time for any actual shooting. It's starting to get late, and we should leave soon."

"Leave? Where are we going to go?" Another thought occurred to him. "Where am I supposed to stay?"

"You could stay with me." Natasha answered. "I have two guest rooms at my house."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be in your way, or give you any problems."

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have offered."

"Okay, I'll stay with you then."

"Great! Of course, we'll need to pick some things for you on the way home."

Richard frowned. "What things?"

"You know; clothes, shoes, pajamas, hairbrush, tooth brush and toothpaste, jackets, coats. Things like that."

"Oh, yeah. Those **would** be useful."

"Yeah, they might be." Natasha teased. "Anyway, we'll pick up a few thing later, then tomorrow morning, we'll see about getting you any other things you might need. Or stuff you might want. You know, to decorate your room or whatever. We'll need to get back in the afternoon though. Your tech assessment is then, and you shouldn't be late for that."

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

On the way to the shooting range, Natasha and Richard passed Clint and Roy.

"Hey, guys." Natasha greeted. "Good day?"

"Yeah, in my opinion anyway." Clint answered. "Whaddya think, Roy? Good day?"

"Today was **awesome!**" Roy enthusiastically replied. "Coming here was easily the best decision I've ever made."

"Definitely." Richard agreed, also happy about the way things were going so far.

Both Natasha and Clint were happy to hear this, as they also liked the fact that Roy and Richard were there. Neither of the older agents ever imagined that they would ever be teachers, but to their surprise, Clint and Natasha actually enjoyed training them. It was a nice change from the routine, and the teens' enthusiasm was contagious. They couldn't remember the last time they had enjoyed a time when they had a day off from missions, but still had to come to base.

"So, you guys heading out?" Natasha asked the two archers.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of late. We were gonna go to my place for the night. Course, we should probably stop off at a store. Since Red here needs some clothes and crap." Clint answered. "What about you?"

Natasha checked her watch. "Damn, it's later than I thought. We should get going too. Sorry Richard, looks like your introduction to firearms will have to wait."

"That's fine, I don't mind waiting."

"Well then, we'd better hurry up, or we'll miss our ride." Clint said.

The four hurried outside, to a waiting quinjet. The ride back to land was fairly quick, and the quinjet landed at a SHIELD base outside of New York City, in minutes. From there, they took SHIELD cars to the city. Natasha and Richard went to a brownhouse in Brooklyn, after stopping at several clothing stores. They were also able to get him the toiletries he needed, so he was set for several days.

"There's the living room, the kitchen is down that hall, laundry room is back there…" Natasha pointed out all the important rooms on the first floor, while she and Richard brought in his things.

"This is obviously the second floor." She continued, as they both went up the stairs. She pointed to a door a few feet down the hall. "That's my room, and there's the gym." She pointed to another door, which was slightly open. Richard could see part of a treadmill through the crack, and made a mental note to take a look in there as soon as possible.

"You can use the gym whenever you feel like it, but it's only for basic workouts, nothing fancy. The guest rooms are over here." She motioned to two closed doors, on the right side of the hall. "Take a look inside, see which one you want."

Richard opened one of the doors, and took a look around. The room was fairly large, but plain. It had a large bed, which was also bare. Well, that wouldn't be a problem. He and Natasha had bought several bedsets, in many different colors and designs. Richard decided that he wanted this room. He liked all the space. It felt…right.

"I want this room."

Natasha shrugged. "Okay. But don't bother trying to put everything away now. Just get your bed ready, and worry about the other stuff later."

Richard did as she said, easily making the bed, then putting everything else aside for tomorrow. He did, however, get out clothes for tomorrow. Before he went downstairs, he glanced around, taking in the sight of his new room. He was relieved to see that his room had its own bathroom. Which was good, as he did **not** want to share a bathroom with Natasha. That'd be so weird! His room also had a big screen TV, with satellite. Awesome.

"Hey, Richard!" Natasha called from downstairs.

"Yeah?"

"I'm ordering out. Do you want Chinese, or Italian?"

"Don't care, I like both!"

"Fine then. I'm getting Chinese."

"Okay!"

Richard went downstairs, to see the rest of his new home. He also wanted to try to get to know Natasha more. He found her in the living room, flipping through the channels.

"Can't find anything to watch?"

"No." Natasha held out the remote to him. "Here, see if there's anything you want to watch."

"Okay." After a few minutes of flipping channels, he found a show he that he liked. "Oh, awesome! There's a _Supernatural_ marathon on!"

"_Supernatural_?" Natasha repeated in surprise. "Isn't that the show with the two brothers who fight demons?"

"Yeah, they fight all sorts of supernatural stuff! Things like demons, ghosts, monsters, even Bloody Mary! Do you want to watch it?"

"Sure, I'll give it a try."

And to her surprise, she actually liked the show. It was interesting, seeing the brothers—Sam and Dean—traveling all over the country, looking for their father, while fighting the different creatures. Richard would also explain things about the show, like pop culture references she didn't get, or giving her additional information about whatever kind of creature was featured on the show.

Eventually, talk turned to each other. They stayed up late, learning different things about each other. Their favorite foods, colors, music, movies, and more. They stayed up so late that they actually fell asleep on the couch, next to each other. And even though they had only met that day, they felt completely comfortable with each other, as though they had known each other for years.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story. The Justice League, Young Justice team, and certain places I mention (Gotham, Star City, Metropolis) all belong to DC Comics. SHIELD and the Avengers belong to Marvel Comics. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This chapter might not be what you were expecting, but it'll become important later. It's starting them getting to know each other a little, and building trust. Like I said, it'll be important later!

AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAV

_(Clint and Roy, same time as pervious chapter)_

"…And here's the range again." Clint finished giving Roy the tour of the helicarrier. "That concludes our tour. Please throw away all empty food containers in the nearest trash receptacle. Don't forget to tip your waitress. Thank you, and have a nice day."

Roy laughed at that. "Nice. So, what's first?"

"I'm gonna teach you how to use a sniper rifle."

"…..Are you SERIOUS?"

"As a heart attack." He unlocked one of the weapon lockers, and pulled out what looked like two briefcases. "C'mere. Your first sniper lesson begins now."

And so Clint started teaching Roy about being a sniper. First, he unlocked the cases to reveal that they were each holding a disassembled sniper rifle. Clint started teaching him the names of each part, and how to assemble—and disassemble—the rifle.

Once Roy could do that in a reasonable amount of time, Clint moved on to aiming, and shooting. They stayed on that for several hours, Roy quickly mastering every challenge that Clint came up for him. Clint would set up different targets, in various sizes and distances. And as soon as he could hit targets from fifty feet away, Clint would change the targets to sixty feet away, then seventy, then eighty, ninety, a hundred. No matter how much Clint changed it up, Roy only needed one or two practice shots, before hitting his target. It was unbelievable that he could learn how to use a rifle that fast!

Roy was enjoying learning how to be a sniper. Using the rifle was a bit different at first, but he soon got used to it. He wondered what else Clint would teach him. Would he learn how to use any other weapons? What about regular sidearms? Would he learn about those? Would he be allowed to carry one?

"Hey, Roy."

"Yeah?"

"Wanna learn how to use a more difficult rifle?"

"Sure!"

Clint laughed, pleased with his new student's enthusiasm. "Alright then, I'll get you one in a minute. First you gotta take that one apart, and clean it."

As Roy started to disassemble his rifle, Clint asked him, "So, can you think of a reason why I would want you to be so careful about taking care of your rifle now, even though this is just training? Or why I would teach you this now, instead of just teaching you how to hit your target?"

Roy thought for a minute, then answered, "Well, the reason you'd want me to learn how to take care of the rifle is because I'll have to do this by myself eventually. You won't always be around to do it for me. It's better for me to learn this now, than try to figure it out while I'm in the field. And as for having me do it now…well, it's better for me to get in the habit of cleaning it after I'm done using it. After all, if I don't, I could wind up damaging the rifle. That, or it could wind up jamming when I need to use it. If that happens, I won't be able to do my job. And it could make it easier for me to get caught. So then I'd **really** be screwed. Right?"

"Right. You figured that out pretty fast, good job."

Roy smiled. "Thanks."

Roy finished packing up the rifle he'd been using, and Clint put it back in the locker. He then brought out another one for Roy to practice with.

"Here, let's see how you do with this one."

"Okay. Same thing as last time?"

"Yeah, just gonna let you start with some up-close targets, and let you work your way from there."

Roy nodded. "Gotcha."

Roy assembled and loaded the rifle, just as Clint had taught him. While he did that, Clint set up more targets, pleased with the progress Roy was making. At the rate he was going, it wouldn't be all that long before he was completely mission ready. Only a month, tops. Maybe even less! He watched as Roy easily got used to the new rifle, soon hitting every target like an old pro. He was a natural. It was like the guy had been born to be a sniper. It was completely unbelievable. It was also one of the greatest things Clint had ever seen.

Once Clint decided that Roy was good with that rifle, he gave him a third one. To nobody's surprise, Roy easily adjusted the new rifle within minutes. He did the same with the next five rifles as well. Before long, Roy had mastered all fifteen rifles stored at the range. Clint was both shocked, and impressed. This guy was amazing! He honestly wouldn't be surprised if Roy turned out to be even better than him.

"Hey, Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Since you've already gotten the hang of all the rifles here, do you want to start learning about the other guns here?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Alright then…"

So Clint gave Roy a Beretta, curious about how long it would take him to master this gun. Just like before, Clint taught him how to assemble and disassemble the gun. Then he showed him how to load, aim, and shoot it. And just like before, Roy was able to perfectly use the gun within minutes. So Clint gave him a Glock 17, and had him practice with that.

Soon, Roy was shooting it without a problem. He also was able to shoot a Desert Eagle pistol within minutes of Clint passing it to him. No matter what kind of gun Clint gave him, Roy was able to fire it like he'd been practicing for years. Clint was thoroughly impressed. Roy was turning out to be one hell of a student. He could hardly wait to continue Roy's training. He wished he could continue today, but it was getting late, and he still needed to talk to Roy about where he would be staying. He already had an idea, but wasn't one hundred percent sure that Roy would agree with it.

"Hey Roy, it's getting kinda late. We should head out."

Roy looked at his watch, frowning slightly. "It is? I didn't even notice."

"Yeah, so we should probably go."

Roy looked a little uncomfortable, as he realized that he really didn't have anywhere to go. "Where am I supposed to stay?"

"You can stay with me, if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why not? I've got a spare room you can use."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be in your way or anything."

" 'Course I'm sure! If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't've offered in the first place."

"Okay, yeah I'll stay with you."

"Great! 'Course, we'll need to stop off a store or two. You'll need to get a few things."

"A few things?" Roy frowned, then he realized what Clint meant. He'd need clothes, shoes, toiletries, and other things.

Clint chuckled. "Like I said. You'll need to get a few things."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea."

Clint outright laughed at that. "Yeah, it might Red." He checked his watch again. "C'mon, we'd better get going. Don't wanna miss our ride back."

Roy followed Clint out of the range. While they headed outside, Roy decided to ask Clint a few questions.

"So, do you know what else you're going to teach me?"

"Yeah, I got a few ideas."

"Like what?"

"Well, I wanna see about teaching you to fly one of the quinjets."

"Can you fly them?" Roy asked, curious.

"Sure I can. I also wanna teach you first aid. It's a pretty useful skill to have."

"True."

"And I'm also thinking about giving you a few pointers with your fighting. It never hurts to have more than one way to protect yourself."

"Yeah, good point."

Just then, they saw Natasha and Richard leaving the cafeteria.

"Hey, guys." Natasha greeted. "Good day?"

"Yeah, in my opinion anyway." Clint answered. "Whaddya think, Roy? Good day?"

"Today was **awesome!**" Roy enthusiastically replied. "Coming here was easily the best decision I've ever made."

"Definitely." Richard agreed, also happy about the way things were going so far.

"So, you guys heading out?" Natasha asked the two archers.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of late. We were gonna go to my place for the night. Course, we should probably stop off at a store. Since Red here needs some clothes and crap." Clint answered. "What about you?"

Natasha checked her watch. "Damn, it's later than I thought. We should get going too."

"Well then, we'd better hurry up, or we'll miss our ride." Clint said.

The four hurried outside, to a waiting quinjet. The ride back to land was fairly quick, and the quinjet landed at a SHIELD base outside of New York City, in minutes. From there, they took SHIELD cars to the city. Clint and Roy went to an apartment in Brooklyn, after stopping at several clothing stores. They were also able to get him the toiletries he needed, so he was set for several days.

"So here's my—well, **our**—apartment." Clint said as they entered.

Roy looked around. The apartment wasn't huge, but wasn't all that small either. It was somewhere in the middle, which appealed to Roy. It was simple, fairly clean, and looked well lived in. Unlike the apartment he used to share with Green Arrow, it didn't look like a museum, it looked like a **home**. Roy liked it immediately.

"Your room's this way." Clint said, carrying several bags of Roy's new clothing.

Roy followed, carrying the rest of his things. Clint showed him into a medium room with light blue walls, and large, clear windows. Roy liked it as fast as he had liked the apartment in general. It was perfect for him. The right amount of space, it was already a color he liked, and there was plenty of natural light.

"Well, you got your own bathroom." Clint told him, making sure that Roy knew where everything was. "So, I guess that's good, for both of us."

"Definitely makes me happy." Roy agreed.

"Yeah, same here. Anyway, your closet is over there, and here's the TV. It comes with satellite, so you have plenty of stuff to watch."

"Awesome."

"I know right? Anyway, I'm gonna get dinner going. Do you like lasagna?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then that's what we're having for dinner."

After Clint put the frozen lasagna in the oven, he turned to Roy.

"Y'know, we should probably try to get to know each other. We **are **living together, and working together after all."

"Good point." Roy thought for a second, then asked, "What's your favorite movie?"

"_Star Wars._ The original ones. You?"

"_Dances With Wolves._"

"Huh, don't think I've seen that one before."

"Well, I've never seen the original _Star Wars._"

"Are you kidding me?! That's it, you're watching them right now!"

So they went to the living room, and settled in for a long night of comparing movies.

"These special effects suck!"

"Shut up, and watch the damned movie…."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story. Characters like Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Iron Man all belong to Marvel Comics. All other characters, and some places, belong to DC Comics. No copyright infringement is intended.

SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD YJL SHIELD

Early the next day, Natasha, Richard, Clint, and Roy all went back to the Helicarrier. Clint and Roy were there so that Roy could learn first aid, and how to pilot a quinjet. Natasha and Richard were there so that Richard could learn to shoot, and have his tech assessment.

Before they split up, Clint said, "Let's try to meet up here for lunch. Say, twelve, twelve-thirty?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Sounds good."

_(Natasha and Richard)_

"So, this is the shooting range." Natasha said motioning to the large room. "You might be spending a lot of time here, especially after you start doing missions." She gave Richard a look. "Can you guess why?"

"So that I can improve my marksmanship, in case I have to use a gun in the field." Richard answered.

"Right, no sense in you being killed just because you couldn't work a simple handgun."

"Yeah, that would suck."

"So here is the station you'll be using today. First thing, you need to know how to load the gun. You do it like _this_." She pulled out her sidearm, and demonstrated. Richard did the same with his gun.

"Then you aim it, like _this_." Richard copied her movements as carefully as he could.

"Then shoot." Richard fired several shots at the paper target. To his surprise, Richard actually made several good hits. Two hits in the right shoulder, one in the side, one in the heart, and two in the head.

Natasha smiled. "Good job. Those are good shots to make."

"Really?"

"Really. Most of those shots are good for disabling your target. There are also some kill shots in there, which you'll also have to do. Hopefully not anytime soon, but it never hurts to learn how to do it."

She thought for a moment, then said, "All right, first you'll practice disabling shots. The spots to hit when you need to bring down, but not kill, the target. Those are spots like the shoulders, shins, stomach, and knees."

She showed him how to reload, then had him practice disabling shots for an hour and a half. By that point, he could hit all of the points without a problem.

"You're doing so well!" Natasha praised.

Richard blushed a little. "Thanks." He answered, a little embarrassed. He wasn't really used to being given praise during training.

"You're welcome. Do you want to try lethal shots now?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay, this time aim for the heart, or the middle of the head. Right between the eyes, got it?"

"Yeah."

Richard reloaded his gun, carefully took aim, and started shooting. Learning how to make lethal shots didn't take as long, since Richard was more familiar with the gun now, but Natasha still had him practice for nearly an hour.

"You're doing great, Richard." Natasha told him, as she taught him how to disassemble and clean his gun.

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do."

"Do you think I'll be able to do missions soon?"

"At the rate you're going, I'd say yes. I wouldn't be surprised if you're completely mission ready by the end of the month. Maybe even earlier."

"Awesome!"

Natasha glanced at her watch. "Oh, we'd better go. It's almost noon."

"Oh, yeah, we're meeting Roy and Clint for lunch."

"Yeah, and I doubt you want to be late. I know I don't."

_(Clint and Roy)_

Clint and Roy had just left Natasha and Richard, and were going to Roy's first aid lessons.

"So, what kind of first aid am I going to be learning?" Roy asked.

"Well, simple stuff like CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, and treating cuts and bruises. You'll also be learning harder stuff like treating burns, helping someone with broken bones, concussions, and bullet wounds."

"Sounds interesting."

"Oh, yeah. Here's the room."

They went into a room that had tables covered with dummies and first aid kits. There were also large posters on the walls, with first aid information. The whole room smelled strongly of burn ointment, and peroxide.

"So, what's first?"

"CPR, and the Heimlich Maneuver. You'll be practicing on one of those dummies."

"Okay, no problem." Roy got one of the dummies, and laid it out on a table.

"Do you know anything about CPR?"

Roy flashed him a grin. "Yeah, I'm actually a certified lifeguard."

"Nice! Well, guess we can skip the CPR then."

"And I already know how to do the Heimlich Maneuver too."

"Good, anything else?"

"Yeah, pretty much everything you said."

"Where'd you learn all that stuff?" Clint asked in surprise.

"First aid unit in Boy Scouts."

"Seriously? You were a Boy Scout?" Clint laughed.

"Not by choice. Apparently I needed to get out more, and improve my social skills."

"Well, since there's no point in staying in here all morning, do you want to skip ahead to your piloting lessons?"

Roy looked excited. "Hell yes!"

"Well, c'mon then. Let's go."  
Walking to the hangar, where most of the quinjets were, Roy decided to ask Clint something he'd been wondering about.

"Hey Clint?"

"Yeah?"

"You're teaching me to be-at least in part-an assassin, aren't you?"

"Yeah, sort of."

"'Sort of'?"

"I'm teaching you how to be a sniper. Sometimes snipers are sent out just for covering others. Sometimes we're sent out to assassinate certain targets. It all depends on what's going on, and what the higher-ups decide. So, in a way, yeah. I am teaching you how to be an assassin. But there's one thing you ought to remember, one thing that sets people like us apart from the crowds of hired guns out there."

"What?"

"We may kill people, but only the ones who really deserve it. The criminals who are too dangerous to lock up, or bargain with. Yeah, I've killed people. And you might wind up doing it too. But for every criminal we kill, we prevent more crimes. We save the lives of those our targets would hurt. We're helping people. It may not seem like it to some people, but it's worth it."

Roy thought about what Clint said. He had to admit, the older man had a point. He only killed the **really** dangerous people. People who could break out of whatever prison they were being held in, and hurt even more people. Just breaking out of their prison could cause several innocent prison employees to get hurt. Or worse, killed. Stopping the criminal, permanently, would be essential. But if they could break out of wherever they were being held, then jail obviously wasn't a viable option.

It'd be like Gotham, with criminals breaking out of their cells every other day. Countless civilians would get hurt, or even killed. And anyone who tried to stop them would also be at risk. Even the trained professionals. At least if the criminals were dead, everyone would be a lot safer, with only the usual, mundane criminals to worry about. The cops going after the criminals would be a lot safer while doing their jobs, and civilians would be able to go outside without having to worry about some whack job threatening the whole city. Everybody wins.

Another thought occurred to Roy. If they only went after the **really **bad criminals, wouldn't those criminals get the death penalty anyway? At least some of them would. So really, the criminals were dead either way. Guys like Clint—and probably himself, eventually—were just speeding up the process. At least if they were killed, nobody would have to worry about them breaking out of prison, and hurting even more people. A dead person can't commit murder, so that criminal wouldn't be a threat anymore. Clint was right, Roy decided. Yeah, it wasn't pretty, but it **was** necessary.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story.

A/N: For everyone who's wondering, yes, Roy and Richard will become Red Arrow and Nightwing. They will see the team, and the league. There will be a confrontation with them and Batman/Green Arrow. But no, Roy is not a clone. There won't be any 'broken arrow' going on.

YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD

_(Natasha and Richard, after lunch) _

"So, how do you think Stark is going to get here?" Richard asked Natasha, as they waited for the billionaire hero to show up. "IS Fury going to send someone to pick him up?"

"No, I doubt it." Natasha answered. "He'll probably just take one of his suits up here." She looked at the computer, which was scanning for Iron Man with the security cameras outside the ship, radio frequencies, and several other alarms. He wasn't showing up yet, so she turned back to Richard. "He's still not here. Looks like you'll need to wait a little more."

"I hope he gets here soon."

Not five seconds after that, Stark showed up on the computer. And, predictably, he was making a big show of it. He hacked their systems, **again**, even though he'd been told that he shouldn't. Then he used his access to announce his arrival. By blaring AC DC's 'Shoot to Thrill' over the radio system. **Again.**

_"Hey Fury, Romanoff." _He called. _"What's the reason for bringing me up here? You guys get hacked by some twelve year old geek with too much time on his hands? Or do you guys just want to see me that much?" _

_"Stark, stop hacking us, dammit!" _Fury's voice comes over the radio. _"And I already told you why you had to come here. So stop screwing around, and get your drunk ass in here!"_

_"Oh, Nicky, I'm insulted." _Stark replied in mock hurt. _"'Drunk'? I'm nowhere near drunk! I haven't had a single sip of alcohol today. How rude of you."_

While Stark and Fury bickered over the radio, Natasha saw Richard do something with his little holo-computer. She couldn't tell what exactly what he was doing, but judging by all the code that was on the screen, she guessed he was hacking something. She hoped he was going to mess with Stark's suit. It'd be good to see him brought down a peg or two.

_"Wait, what the hell? Someone's hacking my suit! How the hell is this happening?" _Stark exclaimed in shock. Natasha couldn't blame him for being so surprised. As far as she knew, no one had ever successfully hacked him. Just then, Stark's music was replaced by the 'Barbie Girl' song.

_"I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie wooorld, I'm made of plastic, It's so fantastic, You can brush my hair, Take me anywhereeee" _

_"Oh dear God, make it stop!" _ Stark cried. _"Make it stop! Someone make it stop!"_

The song did stop, only to be replaced by another annoying song.

_"I'm a gummy bear, yes, I' m a gummy bear…"_

_"NO, please stop!"_

_"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all…."_

_"STOP!"_

_"What does the fox say?"_

_"NOT __THAT__ SONG!"_

_"And I said 'Baby, baby, baby ohhh…."_

_"NO, __ANYTHING __ BUT THAT! NOT BEIBER!"_

_"You get the beeeest of both worlds….."_

_"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! MAKE IT END!"_

Not only was Richard playing the most annoying songs possible, Natasha noticed, he was also control the flight path of Stark's suit. Instead of flying straight to the Helicarrier, his suit was now doing all sorts of tricks in the air. Corkscrews, loop-the-loops, dives, and other tricks. It was also going at VERY high speeds, like the worlds craziest roller coaster.

Over the radio, she could hear Stark begging for the songs to stop. He was also begging for the tricks to stop, or at least slow down. Every time he did though, the music would just get louder, and he would fly even faster.

_"PLEASE, STOP! I'M GONNA PUKE! STOOOOP! PLEEEAAASSSEEE!"_

Natasha and Richard were both laughing at the normally cocky billionaire. Instead of the normal bravado, he was screaming, crying, and begging for it all to stop. Over the radio, they could also hear Fury laughing at Stark, enjoying the fact that he was getting a taste of his own medicine.

Richard pressed a few buttons of his screen, and then spoke into it.

"Mr. Stark, this is the person controlling your suit. From the sounds of it, you haven't been very respectful to SHEILD. You keep hacking their systems, even though you've been told not to. Since you haven't listened, I decided to show you what it's like, when someone decides to hack you without permission. It's not very nice is it? You should learn how to listen, and do as you're told. If you hack SHEILD again, I'll do something even worse than worse than this. Do you understand?"

_"Y-yes!"_

"Are you going to hack SHEILD anymore?"

_"N-no!"_

"Are you sure?"

_"YES!"_

"Fine, I'm going to give you back control of your suit now. But remember, if you hack SHEILD again, I won't be so nice. Got it?"

_"Yes."_

"Oh, one more thing, Mr. Stark."

_"What?"_

"I hacked your suit in two minutes, thirteen seconds. And I'm only thirteen years old."

_(Clint and Roy)_

"Well, since we didn't have to do any first aid stuff, and you finished your piloting lessons already, we're going to do more sniper training." Clint told Roy, as they went to a room by the shooting range.

"What kind of training?"

"A training simulation. More than one, actually."

"Okay, what am I supposed to do then?"

"Well, in these simulations, you're going to see a person. In order to pass the simulation, you'll have to shoot the person. It'll be like you're on mission, and you have to eliminate a target. You'll have a gun, orders, and it'll look like you're in different environments. It's to help you get used to missions where you'll be responsible for eliminating a target. This way, when you actually have a mission like that, there's less chance you'll freeze, or do something that'll get you caught."

"So, what happens now?"

Clint motioned to the door in front of them. "Go in here. I'll be in the control room, starting the simulations, and monitoring your progress. You'll get more directions when the simulation starts."

"Okay." Roy went into the room, waiting for the simulations to start.

About ten minutes later, they did. Roy found himself standing in a shadowy city alley. A noise buzzed in his ear. Roy frowned, until he realized that it was probably a comm unit. That's probably how he was going to get his orders in the simulation, as well as in the field. And he guessed it was to track him if he got lost, or kidnapped. Or if he needed to call for help.

Clint's voice came from the comm unit. _"Go up the fire escape, straight to the roof."_

Without questioning Clint about what else he needed to know, Roy immediately started looking around for a fire escape. He found it in a few seconds, and started climbing.

Once he got onto the roof, he hid in a shadow cast by the roof's doorway. He stayed there, waiting for more instructions.

_"Look in the corner northwest of your current position. There will be a duffel bag there."_

Northwest, Roy thought for a few seconds. That would be on his left, and diagonal from him. He went to the corner, and found a black duffel bag.

_"Open the bag. Inside there will be a file on your target, instructions, and your weapon. Read the file and instructions carefully. Then do what they say. If you do __everything __the instructions say, you'll pass the simulation. Understand?"_

"Yeah, sounds easy enough."

Roy opened the bag, and took out a manila file and a case, which he guessed had a disassemble sniper rifle. He picked up the file, and read carefully. His target was a big time drug and arms dealer. He was also proven to sell people, for slaves, or prostitution.

Read more, he learned that his target always sat by a window in his living room every night reading, or doing business on his computer. Roy's job was to eliminate him while he was by the window. The file also included several pictures of his target, for identification.

Once he finished reading the file, Roy set it aside. He opened the case. Just like he had suspected, there was a disassembled rifle inside. He put it together, then pointed it at the window he knew the target would be near. He didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, his target came into the room. Roy frowned in distaste.

Even if he wasn't a criminal, Roy wouldn't have liked him. The man was somewhat fat, with greasy black hair. He had a large nose, and beady black eyes. His mouth was overly large and fat. He looked disgusting. That fact that he was a criminal just made him all the more disgusting, in Roy's opinion.

He waited for the man to sit near the window. It took several minutes, but he eventually did. Once it looked like he had a good shot, Roy carefully aimed. He was about to shoot, but then his target got up. Roy was about to get annoyed, until he saw what the target was doing. He was actually opening the window! Roy was pleasantly surprised at this. Sure it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it made his job a little easier. After all, if there was no bullet hole in the window, it'd be a little harder for anyone to find his perch.

Once the man sat down, Roy carefully aimed his rifle again. Roy aimed, took a deep breath in, and fired. The bullet hit the man right in the side of the head. That was definitely a lethal shot.

_"Great job." _Clint congratulated him. _"That was a perfect shot."_

"Thanks."

_"Do you want try another one?"_

"Sure, why not?"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story.

SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD YJL SHEILD

_(August 6, SHEILD Helicarrier, Director Fury's Office)_

Fury was looking over the files of Roy Harper and Richard Grayson, while he waited for them, Natasha, and Clint to arrive. He was slightly worried, though he tried to reassure himself that his decision was fine. He had decided to send Roy and Richard on their first big mission. Barton and Romanoff were going too, but he was worried about what would happen. As far as he knew, Harper and Grayson had never done anything this big before, though their files showed that they had made excellent progress in training. He turned back to their files.

_Name: Roy W. Harper Junior_

_Field Name: Red Arrow_

_DOB:7/15/94_

_Age: 18_

_Clearance Level: 5_

_Primary Skill: Sniper_

_Secondary Skill: Espionage _

_Mentor: Field Agent Clint Barton, aka 'Hawkeye' _

_Handler: Agent Phil Coulson_

_Skills: Exceptional Sniper (proficient with both a bow and sniper rifle), black belts in four martial arts, stealth, fluent in three languages, basic understanding of three additional languages, espionage, first aid, pilot, gymnastics, some acrobatics, exceptional wilderness survival skills._

_Stats: Shooting accuracy of 400:500 with hand gun, 450:500 with sniper rifle, and 460:500 with bow. Red Arrow is brave, smart, an excellent tactician, and never backs down from a mission. He has above normal speed and strength for a male his age. (Can run the same speed as Gold medal Olympic runner, and the same strength as a Silver medal Olympic athlete) Can calculate bullet trajectories in seconds, allowing him to find the best place to fire, or find another shooter. Can also predict opponents moves in battles (over seven moves ahead), and in psychological situations (over nine moves ahead). This allows him to control confrontations in nearly any way. _

_Weaknesses: Normal human weakness (Note: He allergic to penicillin, breaks out in a rash if given any.)_

_Comments: Red Arrow is one of the best snipers in the world. Loyal, steadfast, smart, and brave, he is willing to do any mission, at anytime, anywhere. Can work alone, or with others. Follows orders, and will do anything to protect teammates, and SHEILD._

Yeah, Harper would be fine. Fury decided. He could take care of himself, he wouldn't be a problem. He turned to Grayson's file.

_Name: Richard J. Grayson_

_Field Name: Nightwing_

_DOB: 5/4/00_

_Age: 13_

_Clearance Level: 5_

_Primary Skill: Espionage_

_Secondary Skill: Hacking _

_Third Skill: All Purpose Saboteur_

_Mentor: Field Agent Natasha Romanoff, aka 'Black Widow'_

_Handler: Agent Phil Coulson_

_Skills: Black Belts in five martial arts, stealth, hacking, espionage, 450:500 gun accuracy, fluent in nine languages, basic understanding of another four languages, gymnastics, acrobatics, first aid, mechanic._

_Stats: Shooting accuracy of 450:500. Nightwing is brave, smart, a near perfect tactician, and never backs down from a mission. He has above normal flexibility and agility for a male his age. (Near the same level as a Gold medal Olympic gymnast/ acrobat) Can also predict opponents moves in battles (over nine moves ahead), and in psychological situations (over twelve moves ahead). This allows him to control confrontations in nearly any way. _

_Weakness: Normal human weaknesses. No medical allergies. _

_Comments: Nightwing has the potential to be a near perfect field agent. He's smart, adaptable, loyal, and willing to do anything to complete his mission. Willing to follow any orders, and do any mission he's given, Nightwing is better than most agents at his level. He's protective of his teammates, and willing to do anything to protect them, and help SHEILD._

Fury looked up just as Natasha, Clint, Roy, and Richard walked in.

"You have a mission." Fury told them, in his usual, straightforward way. He showed them a picture of a middle aged woman, with blonde hair, glasses, and a white lab coat.

"That's Dr. Serling Roquette!" Richard exclaimed in surprise.

"Who?"

"She's a really famous scientist, and she's been missing for about two weeks." Richard explained.

"She was kidnapped." Fury corrected.

"Do we know who did it?" Roy asked.

"Yes, it was the League of Shadows."

"So, what's this got to do with us?" Natasha asked.

"We recently found out where she is being held. Your mission is to go rescue her. And, I also want you to find out why she was kidnapped in the first place. They had to be keeping her alive for a reason; see if the reason is something we need to be concerned about. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Dismissed."

YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*

_(Mount Justice, Same day and time)_

In Mount Justice, things were fairly quiet. The team hadn't had any missions in a while. Their last one had been against Mr. Twister, and the League had been either unable, or unwilling to give them any others. Batman had been about to give them a mission several days ago, one involving a drug operation on Santa Prisca. He had barely started the briefing, when a news report of the facility there having been completely shut down happened.

The news report hadn't given much detail, but they found out that a federal agency had learned about the drug operation there, and cleaned it out themselves. Several million dollars of drugs had been seized, and many criminals-including Bane, and a League of Shadows operative named Sportsmaster-had been arrested. Since the operation there had been destroyed, there was no point in going there.

Several days later, they were told about an android that had attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. Batman was going to have them supervise the deliveries of the parts to two different labs, but then Superman had called, telling him that the android parts had been seized by a federal agency. Superman couldn't refuse without risking getting the League into serious legal trouble. The federal agents who had seized the parts hadn't said what agency they were from, but Batman had discovered that they were the same agency that had stopped the drug operations in Santa Prisca.

So since there weren't any missions, the team was bored. Kaldur and Batgirl were reading; M'gann was trying to cook; Conner was in his room; the new girl, Artemis, was doing homework; and Wally was moping, missing two of his best friends.

Nobody had seen or heard from either Roy or Richard in a little over a month. There hadn't been any sightings of Speedy or Robin; neither of them had called their friends, either hero or civilian; no new heroes matching there descriptions had been sighted; they never went back home after the scene at the Hall; there was no sign of them in Gotham or Star City traffic or business cameras, or cameras in other major cities; and no sign that they had been kidnapped or killed.

The whole League was worried. Roy and Richard had been around for years, everyone knew them. But no matter where they looked, who they questioned, how many favors they called in, or contacts they asked, no-one had any idea about where they went. Green Arrow, though he had taken on a new protégée, was worried about what had happened to his surrogate son. He wanted to know he was safe, alive, and he wanted the chance to fix things between them.

Batman was spending every second he could looking for them. Though he cared about Roy, he was much more worried about Richard. He might not have shown it that much, but he loved Richard like he was his own. Batman had been looking relentlessly, barely bothering with keeping up with his civilian persona. The only time he really bothered with being Bruce Wayne anymore, was to go on news shows to spread information about Richards disappearance. At times, his self-neglect was so bad, various League members had had to tranquilize him, so that he would get some sleep.

Wally and Kaldur were also worried. They had known each other for several years, and even considered each other like brothers. The fact that two of their brother were missing for so long, and they couldn't do anything to help, hurt them more than any physical injury had ever done.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in this story. It all belongs to Marvel, DC comics, etc.

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"Sir?"

"Yes, Hill?" answered Fury.

"Agents Barton, Harper, Romanoff, and Grayson have just returned. They're in the medical bay, if you want to see them."

Fury nodded. "Thank you." He replied.

He got up, and started to the med bay. He was curious about how Harper and Grayson had done on their first big mission. They had done smaller missions for SHEILD, but this was their first big mission. They had seemed excited before they left, and he knew that they had the right skills, but he had still worried about them.

He walked into the med bay, looking for the four agents. He found them quickly enough, just by following Barton and Harpers voices. The both hated the med bay, preferring to take care of any injuries themselves. Romanoff and Grayson also hated the med bay, but both of them were far less vocal about it.

To Fury's relief, none of them were seriously hurt. They all just had several bruises, and a couple small cuts and scrapes. He watched with amusement, and some surprise, as Romanoff cleaned up Grayson, and Barton helped Harper with his injuries. Both Grayson and Harper were trying to get out of being checked over, while Romanoff and Barton were trying to get them to stay still long enough to get patched up. And all the while, the four of them, still in their field uniforms, were having a heated discussion about something he couldn't quite follow.

Harper, in his red and black sleeveless uniform, was saying, "No way they'd win! They can't _really_ fight. Just hit something until it stops moving. They'd so easy to beat. How can you think otherwise?"

Romanoff in her black cat suit, answered, "I'm gonna have to agree with Roy on this one. He's got a point. Like he said, they can't really fight. Also they aren't that smart, so you could trick or distract them pretty easily."

Grayson wearing his black and grey body armor, countered with, "But what if you're empty handed? What are you going to distract them with then? And don't forget, they wouldn't be able to understand them if you tried to talk to them, so that way wouldn't work."

Barton, in his black and dark purple sleeveless uniform, laughed. "He's got you guys there!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Fury asked them, stepping into their line of sight.

"Who would win in a fight; astronauts, or cavemen?" Barton answered.

"Маленькая птичка (little bird), you need to hold still." Natasha gently chided Richard. "I need to clean this cut. You don't want to risk an infection, do you?"

"No, I don't." Richard answered. "I'm sorry, _sora mai mare_. (Big sister) I'll hold still."

Natasha smiled gently, "Спасибо, братишка." (Thank you, little brother)

Richard smiled back. "_Te iubesc._" (I love you)

Natasha's smile widened. "Я тоже тебя люблю." (I love you too.)

Fury watched them, pleased that they were getting along so well. The better they got along, the better they would work together, and the more likely that Grayson would stay at SHEILD. He was proving to be a valuable asset so far, and Fury didn't want to risk losing him.

"Agent Grayson, did you get the information I wanted?" He asked Richard.

"Yes sir. It's right here." He answered, motioning to his holo-computer. "I took everything they had, and then I disabled their servers."

"What, did you give them a virus?" Fury asked, curious.

"Are you kidding? I gave them more than one virus." The teen answered. "I gave them the cyber equivalent of 750 nuclear bombs to their severs!"

"Great job." Fury said, impressed and pleased with what he had done. "Where's Dr. Roquette?"

"Over there." Clint answered, pointing to a cot a few feet away. "She's fine, no major injuries or anything."

"Good. Did she say anything about what the Shadows made her do?"

"Yeah." Richard answered. "She said they made created this thing she calls FOG. Basically, it's these really little machines that can hack anything. They can also destroy anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, say they were programmed to attack a federal building. They would go in, hack the severs, then physically destroy that building as well, possibly killing or injuring any people inside. Then everyone would be too busy trying to save the people to worry about the Shadows. The severs themselves would be wrecked too, making hard for anyone to find out what was taken, while the Shadows had a this top secret information, that they could do whatever they want with." Richard explained.

"Great." Fury said, his voice a mix of sarcasm, annoyance, and exasperation. "That would probably explain the wrecked STAR LABS building."

"Yeah, probably. But don't worry, we stopped the FOG already." Roy said, with a slight smile.

"Wait, what?" Fury asked in surprise.

"We saw the FOG heading into a Wayne Enterprises building." Clint explained. "While we were coming back from rescuing Dr. Roquette."

"Dr. Roquette and Richard had already been working on a counter for it, since she was able to take information about the FOG with her, when we got her out the base." Continued Natasha.

"They had just managed to finish it, when we saw the FOG going towards the Wayne Enterprises building." Roy added. "Since we were right there, and Richard already had the counter for the FOG, we went in, and shut it down before it did any real damage."

"The infiltrators were outfiltrated!" Richard cheered, grinning widely.

"Seriously? You're really gonna start that again?" Clint asked, though he was also smiling a little.

"Yeah, why not?" Richard answered.

Fury shook his head, smiling as well. "Great job tonight. All four of you. Feel free to take a few days off."

"Awesome!"

YJL * YJL* YJL* YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*YJL*

Batman was watching the news, frowning slightly. Dr. Serling Roquette had been rescued, though she wouldn't say by who, only that it had been by Federal agents. She wouldn't-or couldn't-say which one. Also, there had been a sort of attack on a STAR LABS building, leaving it demolished, and their servers were wrecked.

Eye witnesses described the source of the attack as a large, silvery cloud. Some had called it a fog. It went in, destroying the building. About five minutes later, maybe less, the cloud/fog left the building. Though by then it was just a large pile of rubble.

Just _what_ had happened?


End file.
